A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF SHIFTING BEACH PROFILES 



Henry C. Stetson 

 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 



Contract Nonr- 1254(00) 

 Task NR 388-018 



The purpose of this investigation is to map the changes in the beach profile throughout a 

 twelve month's period, choosing portions of the Massachusetts coast where a variety of beach 

 environments could be found. The exposure, that is intensity of wind and sea conditions, the 

 abundance of supply of sand and the proximity to the source, the slope of the offshore bottom and 

 the depth of water are all factors that exercise a control over the resultant form. Furthermore, 

 the rapidity with which a beach changes shape, and the shape which it assumes are likewise 

 controlled by them. 



For this investigation the terminology adopted by the Beach Erosion Board is used and 

 the term beach profile includes the backshore, the foreshore, and the offshore portions. They 

 must be considered as a unit. The entire beach profile is mobile and varies constantly. Strictly 

 speaking, observations are only good for the time when they are taken. It is becoming apparent, 

 however, that certain broad patterns are repetitive, that these patterns may be seasonal, and 

 that by continuous observations on selected traverses, certain principles can be established 

 concerning the responses of different types of beaches to the various forces which control their 

 form. On most beaches at any given time there will be features which are hold-overs from a 

 previous set of conditions and which are in the course of being modified. Spot observations of 

 any given beach are, therefore, of limited value and only by a continuous series can the 

 evolutionary sequence be unraveled. 



Figure 1. Locations of the traverses. 

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